I am becoming very drawn to undertaking this path. I realize the Secret aspect and serious nature. How do I find out who can transmit the Longchen Nyingtik? Only then can I get close enough to discover whether to make the request.

tsultrimyarda wrote:I am becoming very drawn to undertaking this path. I realize the Secret aspect and serious nature. How do I find out who can transmit the Longchen Nyingtik? Only then can I get close enough to discover whether to make the request.

A lot of Nyingma lamas have practiced and have this transmission. So there are quite a few you could ask about it depending on where you are in the world.

/magnus

"To reject practice by saying, 'it is conceptual!' is the path of fools. A tendency of the inexperienced and something to be avoided."- Longchenpa

There are indeed a lot of teachers who can bestow these practices. However, I would beware of trying to get a read on a teacher (very important before you commit) in a group that is already very large, because 1) such organizations are often poisonous, and 2) you will have very little contact with the teacher. If you don't want to make the jump to Taiwan just yet, you could investigate Lopon Jigme in the Bay Area.

I know Khenpo Sonam in LA holds the Longchen Nyingthig. He runs a very small, intimate Dharma center. Check it out at: http://www.lhundrupcholing.com/. Because he holds other lineages as well, be sure that you tell him you are specifically interested in the Longchen Nyingthig.

All excellent posts and good advice. Here is my 2 cents from my experience.

Khenpo Sonam, in L.A., as mentioned above, is a very jolly and serious young Lama near you. He is clear, kindly and speaks good English. I've personally met him and he is the real thing. I trust him as a working Lama - someone you can work with on a regular basis.

If you are serious about LCNT then you may want to contact the organizations of HH Kyabjé Dodrupchen Rinpoche:

Of course the modern Dzogchen Master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, while mostly teaching from his own original terma cycle, also holds the tradition of, and teaches as, the incomparable Longchen Rabjam.

oldbob wrote:Khenpo Sonam, in L.A., as mentioned above, is a very jolly and serious young Lama near you. He is clear, kindly and speaks good English. I've personally met him and he is the real thing. I trust him as a working Lama - someone you can work with on a regular basis.

I had a brief phone chat with Khenpo Sonam yesterday (nice but brief) and hope to get to his place tomorrow.

OB, I was a bit confused though (not having heard of Yab Shi before). Were you suggesting that I get the empowerment from the Payul Khenpos and then, perhaps, work one-on-one with Khenpo Sonam?

Must say that I like the idea of melodious Teachings!

Yeshe Lama. Check.

Wow, more research and reading, thanks!

If someone is a holder of a lineage they are capable of giving all empowerment's and teachings of that lineage, so don't be confused tsultrimyarda.

/magnus

That said, if you are serious about the LN, If you hear that one of the great old ones of the lineage, is giving the Yab Shi - anywhere, I would sell the farm and go. I trust that Khenpo Sonam can also give the LN empowerments, and transmission, completely adequately and correctly. Then you can keep the farm.

I had a brief phone chat with Khenpo Sonam yesterday (nice but brief) and hope to get to his place tomorrow.

OB, I was a bit confused though (not having heard of Yab Shi before). Were you suggesting that I get the empowerment from the Payul Khenpos and then, perhaps, work one-on-one with Khenpo Sonam?

Must say that I like the idea of melodious Teachings!

Yeshe Lama. Check.

Wow, more research and reading, thanks!

Somehow we missed Khandro Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyenstse Rinpoche, who both hold the LN, too.

Just to be clearer, the Yab Zhi is not part of the Longchen Nyingthig. It is a great Dzogchen compendium text by Longchenpa, and since the Yeshe Lama is a condensed terma practice manual of the Yab Zhi, it would be wonderful to receive the whole Yab Zhi--but not necessary. While the core of the Longchen Nyingthig (the ngondro, the three roots--Dechen Gyalmo, Rigdzin Dupa and Palchen Dupa) are transmitted by every lineage holding lama, the transmission of the Yeshe Lama, the Yab Zhi, and so on, should be done by someone who has brought their Dzogchen practice to a high level. For this reason, many lamas who are not yet Dzogchen masters refer their students to lamas who are more accomplished for these Nyingthig Dzogchen retreats and teachings. Such lamas, for example, as Adzom Rinpoche (who has not been to the U.S. in about 5 years), Yangthang Tulku, and Khenpo Namdrol.

Many terma cycles, such as the Dudjom Tersar, Konchog Chidu, and the Chokling Tersar, have a path of practice almost identical to the Longchen Nyingthig--so, personally, I would not choose a lama based on what cycle they teach. Choose the best guru in the world, who you imagine you might be able to trust completely eventually, and who can access at least twice a year in person. It may be helpful to use local lamas and Khenpos who speak English to clarify the teachings you receive from your master.

Yudron's advice to pay more attention to finding a Guru than worrying about lineage makes sense. In my own life, I set out to be Kargyud but my Teacher turned out to be Nyingma (Longchen Nyingthig). You want to find a Lama Who indisputably knocks your socks off. That may take a while and a certain amount of "shopping around" is typically in order. However, I would also not totally discount your strong feelings about a connection with the Longchen Nyingthig. Hence I would start your search using that lineage as a criteria. That may or may not pan out, but, on the other hand, you never know.

I had a brief phone chat with Khenpo Sonam yesterday (nice but brief) and hope to get to his place tomorrow.

OB, I was a bit confused though (not having heard of Yab Shi before). Were you suggesting that I get the empowerment from the Payul Khenpos and then, perhaps, work one-on-one with Khenpo Sonam?

Must say that I like the idea of melodious Teachings!

Yeshe Lama. Check.

Wow, more research and reading, thanks!

Somehow we missed Khandro Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyenstse Rinpoche, who both hold the LN, too.

Just to be clearer, the Yab Zhi is not part of the Longchen Nyingthig. It is a great Dzogchen compendium text by Longchenpa, and since the Yeshe Lama is a condensed terma practice manual of the Yab Zhi, it would be wonderful to receive the whole Yab Zhi--but not necessary. While the core of the Longchen Nyingthig (the ngondro, the three roots--Dechen Gyalmo, Rigdzin Dupa and Palchen Dupa) are transmitted by every lineage holding lama, the transmission of the Yeshe Lama, the Yab Zhi, and so on, should be done by someone who has brought their Dzogchen practice to a high level. For this reason, many lamas who are not yet Dzogchen masters refer their students to lamas who are more accomplished for these Nyingthig Dzogchen retreats and teachings. Such lamas, for example, as Adzom Rinpoche (who has not been to the U.S. in about 5 years), Yangthang Tulku, and Khenpo Namdrol.

Many terma cycles, such as the Dudjom Tersar, Konchog Chidu, and the Chokling Tersar, have a path of practice almost identical to the Longchen Nyingthig--so, personally, I would not choose a lama based on what cycle they teach. Choose the best guru in the world, who you imagine you might be able to trust completely eventually, and who can access at least twice a year in person. It may be helpful to use local lamas and Khenpos who speak English to clarify the teachings you receive from your master.

Yudron explains things better, and in a more balanced and accurate way than i did, as I am just a Dzogchen junky and relate to the LN through the few LN Dzogchen teachings I have studied and practiced. Development and completion stages, creative visualization and absorption practices, tsa lung, chod, tumo, etc were only interesting as they related to, and deepened, my experience of the Dzogchen teachings I received. Now I am old, and what little I learned has slipped out through the cracks in my broken bowl. But somehow I am content with what remains and am grateful for all the Teachings I received.

I completely agree with the Teachers and Lineages Yudron added and also would add the Dzogchen lineages within the Drigung Kargu which felt exactly the same as the LN when I experienced them. I would mention Garchen Rinpoche and his Khenpos especially, Venreable Traga Rinpoche, who knocked my old socks off (preconceived notions of everything) without any effort. He is the same as any of the great old ones whom I have received Teachings from.

All that said, I still feel that the Yab Zhi empowerments were a kind of "full introduction and permission" to study and practice Dzogchen, both as explained in the Yab Zhi teachings of Longchenpa, themselves, and as explained in the LN Jig-ling and in other Dzogchen lineages as well. I think they call it ripening the mind stream.

The Yeshe Lama practices, and the Tilika commentary, have been given several times in the US, and are rumored to be given every Summer, but I have no first hand knowledge of this myself.

You have to keep your ears open and ask around. If anyone knows of a good translation of the Yab Zhi, please PM me. I know that Lotsawa Tony was working on it several years ago.

It must be noted that all of the Yeshe Lama practices have been taught, over time, within the secondary practice collection of ChNNR. You can get a lot of teachings just by showing up consistently.

Perseverance furthers.

Long life to the Dzogchen Masters. May they live long in good health, and with success in all things.

oldbob wrote:If anyone knows of a good translation of the Yab Zhi, please PM me. I know that Lotsawa Tony was working on it several years ago.

Funny story. During the Nyingma Kahma/Yabzhi empowerments given by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche at Shechen in 2004/5, Lotsawa Tony came up to me after one of the empowerments and said "Wow.. that was the most incredible explanation of the nature of mind I have ever heard. I'm racing home to find the empowerment text and translate that section". The next day when I saw him he told me he raced home, found the text, looked at that section and told me all it said was "And now, explain to the assembly the nature of mind"

"When a Dzogchen Yogi hears Shakyamuni Buddha turning the Wheel of the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths he hears Samathabhadra proclaiming the most profound Dzogpachenpo." - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche